Border Dispute Between Ecuador And Peru
In order for Latin America to avoid more large-scale interstate war one must examine a more qualitative peace. Efforts of peace must come from a society as a whole versus looking at it as something that needs to be given to people. The resources necessary is something that must be taken into account in order to have a positive peace. The relevant question one must answer is how did the identity of Indigenous people play to both conflict and peace. Interstate wars have been able to be avoided due to the balancing of powers that came about in South America in the nineteenth century. The shared ideology of identity has allowed Latin America to keep interstate peace. Latin America has never considered their neighboring countries to being their enemy.
There are three characteristics that explain the rarity of war. One is the structure, which like I mentioned before is the balancing of powers. The second characteristic is the relative insulation from the global international system. The third characteristic to the containment of war is ideological and institutional. Most of Spanish American elites accepted the norm that they were part of a larger cultural and possible political entity. Institutional innovations reinforce the norms of peace. Latin Americans have been key pioneers of ideas and institutions that have declined warfare.
The Ecuador, Peru dispute of border regions is an example of Latin American Territorial dispute case study. The significance of the Ecuador and Peru dispute is considered to be the longest running international armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere. As a result of this incident both territories went on to increase their military presence along the Cordillera del Condor which resulted in tensions for Peru and went on to provoke the Cenepa War.
Mediators must be able to determine what factors have contributed to the conflict of the two countries. As a mediator in using dominance I would make sure that oil resources be enclosed near the border of both Ecuador and Peru. This would help to enclose economical valuable oil deposits for both. This would allow for relative peace and stability in the long run. By using the guarantors of the Rio Protocol, I would establish an agreement to have access to the Amazon through the border zone.
In terms of reciprocity, I would mark the border zones off under the terms of the Rio Protocol to avoid further problems, in regards to the Cordillera del Condor stretch. I would turn the focus of the military of Ecuador towards to combating future external threats versus focusing on the securing of the territory and conducting anti guerrillas. This would allow both Ecuador and Peru moving towards moving in the right direction without the authority of force.The identity resolution for both Ecuador and Peru would be to work a border integration plan and fix the land boundary along with mutual security issues. By completing a work plan it would give Ecuador access to the Amazon River, which would Ecuador access to the Atlantic Ocean. Both countries would reflect on strengthening their bilateral ties, by taking steps on integration and border development. This would help to promote peace and offset the effects in the global economic downturn. This would require continuous monitoring in order to make sure that relationships of strengthening their bilateral ties are being kept to continue border and integration development among both countries.
As we all know be able to have two countries come to an agreement on collective goods is a difficult task all around. Both countries must be willing to come to an agreement on what benefits all members of a country, regardless of what each one has contribute. Many times countries are forced to contribute in ways in which each is only serving their self interest with no regard to the other country, which can provoke disagreement among each country. The three basic principles of dominance, reciprocity, and identity serve as a possible resolutions for countries to cooperate without being forced to do so by force of authority.
At the end of this border conflict between Ecuador and Peru both countries claimed victory. Ecuador went on to rescind claims to the surrounding areas of the Cenepa headwater. Peru went on to surrender one square mile of the territory around the Tiwinza outpost. Although, many of the claims made by Peru were valid more territory was awarded to Ecuador including access to the Amazon River.
